I think 4 chapters in 9 days is a record for me.

The end of the school day could not have come sooner for Izuku. The talk of him, well actually the Takoba Beach Vigilante, dominated conversation not just in his class, but even in their school.

One of their teachers had even mentioned rewatching the fight multiple times since last night. In short, people liked the Takoba Beach Vigilante a lot.

Or as the poll had decided to name him, Kage.

The fervour and excitement weren't limited to just his school either. All-day long, tons of posts and videos spread throughout the Internet. Speculation of who Kage could be, what his Quirks were and even a few posts about how handsome he was.

Izuku hadn't even shown anyone his face!

Now that he was alone at home though, he could admit it to himself. He liked the attention. He really did. People were happy that he had intervened and saved Sumire. They were amazed at the skills he had displayed the last night.

Izuku, inspiration of the masses. Well, technically it was Kage who was the inspiration.

Izuku wanted to inspire and protect and amaze others, the same way All Might had for decades. To get such a positive reaction, even if people didn't know it was Izuku behind the mask made him very happy.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses, though.

Izuku had gone down to Takoba Beach just to scout it out and apparently, quite a few people had had the same idea. They were people posing on top of the metal cabinet he had appeared on. Others crouched in front of the bullet-ridden car that his clone had stood in front of.

Izuku wasn't sure when it would end, but what it meant was that he definitely couldn't practice at Takoba anymore. If it became a popular hangout then it was inevitable that he would run into someone he knew.

The other problem was on the other end of the spectrum. Kage had a lot of new fans, but he also had a lot of haters. Izuku knew that animosity from some people was part and parcel of the game, but it was doubly so when you were a vigilante.

The few Pro Heroes from around Musutafu had strongly condemned Izuku's actions. The most prominent of these being Kamui Woods who was a shoo-in for a Top 10 spot with his current trajectory.

That condemnation from Pro Heroes was definitely enough to sway people to the other side. Many called for his arrest, called him a lawless vagrant and all sorts of stuff.

It hurt a bit more than Izuku was willing to admit.

He would not let it get him down, though.

Izuku would scour Musutafu for a new training spot until the beach cleared up again. He decided to use the rest of today to catch up and maybe go a bit ahead in his classwork.

Izuku felt that he had made it far enough with the Academy Three. The only one that he needed to use instinctively was the Substitution. The Clone and Transformation were great as is and in truth, there was not a lot more mileage he could get out of them.

Maybe he'd think of something later.

Instead, he would focus on working out the mechanics of Enhancement (before starting the Body Flicker) and trying to master the Substitution. It took a bit too long for him to use the latter so he had to shave the activation time down as much as possible as soon as possible.

Finally, Izuku would try to figure out how to conjure those metal rods again. He had been a bit rash in getting rid of them and he'd been unable to make them ever since.

The Scroll made no mention of object creation from pure chakra so he was well and truly stumped. It was just something he would have to figure out.

Izuku's computer let out a chime signifying an email. He went to his inbox and he freaked out as he who the email was from.

UA.

It took him ten minutes to open the email.

He didn't have to worry. It was just a confirmation of his application. His results were good enough to get into the testing phase despite his supposed lack of a Quirk.

It probably helped that the question about Quirks only came after the candidates for the exam had been chosen.

Izuku wasn't entirely sure what he was meant to say about his chakra.

He could not keep it a secret forever. Somehow, he'd slip up and the fallout would probably be immense. It wouldn't take much time to figure out that his chakra wasn't a Quirk and then from he would have to tell them the truth.

That a magical fruit from a magical tree gave him magical powers.

This was without mentioning the giant symbols that had appeared in the sky. The Scroll had mentioned something about using symbols to perform specialised tasks, but Izuku barely understood a lick of the mentioned theories.

It was obviously near the bottom of the scroll for a reason.

Turning back to the email, Izuku was about to send a confirmation when he saw that it wasn't necessary to reply. He tried to go back to his work and to his credit he was about 60% done when he had to put his pen down.

He was filled with a nervous energy that he needed to expel somehow. It was still far too early to go to Takoba Beach, but maybe there was somewhere else he could go.

Izuku remembered that there were a fair number of abandoned properties scattered across Musutafu. He needed to find one that was relatively private and had enough stuff lying around for him to practice on.

He found three locations that were spread rather far apart, but he wouldn't mind getting some exercise in. In fact, Izuku decided to pass by the gym as well— a prospect that he would have not taken on months ago.

Izuku could admit to himself that he did chase the feeling of satisfaction a good workout provided. His body still hurt after each and every session, but it was fine because he knew that it was for a good cause.

Plus, he could now sprint up the stairs to his flat without being out of breath anymore. That was a big deal as far as he was concerned. How had the original architects decide to just not put in elevators? He lived on the seventh floor!

Maybe it was best if he didn't reopen old wounds.

Izuku changed into his exercise gear and hoodie. He packed a bag with a change of clothes as well as the Scroll. He was about to leave when he caught sight of the mask. Kage's mask— well sort of.

He had made sure that his Transformation had altered the decal and general design of the mask. If he hadn't, Izuku would probably be holed up in some juvenile holding centre by now or something.

Izuku decided to take it with him— just in case he needed it. Maybe some lady would need him to rescue a cat from a tree. He could climb trees with the best of them now after all. Or maybe he'd get another shot at saving someone from dangerous criminals.

What was the old saying? Better to have and not need and so on?

"Who am I kidding? I definitely want another run."

How hard could it be to help someone in need?

As it turned out, it was actually very hard to help someone out in need and that was for one reason and one reason only.

Heroes.

Pro Heroes were ridiculously good at finding and solving situations before Izuku could even get there let alone help.

To be fair, it was day time and that meant that crime wasn't exactly booming. The bigger factor was all the normal heroes as well as All Might on top of that.

Not even the craziest of villains would want to tempt fate and end up on the business end of a Texas Smash. Recently, there had been fewer sightings of All Might going out and about and yet he still quelled any disasters at an inhuman pace.

Izuku imagined it was actually scarier this way for the criminals. Before it had been relatively easy to earmark All Might's position and the criminals just had to operate as far away from that point as possible.

Now though? All Might could and did randomly appear out of nowhere. A derailing train in the north? All Might was there. He'd make sure everyone was alright before disappearing into thin air only to stop a hostage situation in south mere minutes later.

It was a masterstroke.

Unfortunately, All Might was just one man and stuff did slip through the cracks, but that was where the rest of the heroes came in. All Might probably handled 65% of the major incidents in a day as well as a sizeable chunk of the minor ones.

He also primarily worked in the daytime. All Might did have many successful night missions u see his belt, but his skill set lent itself to being more useful during the day.

More subtle approaches were needed at night. Heroes like Endeavor and All Might would draw a lot of unwanted attention at night. Plus, it probably kept everyone's morale up to see their beloved number one during the day.

It was with that in mind that Izuku decided to exercise at the gym until the sun went down. He had been beaten to an incident for the eleventh time that day. The worst part was that two of them had been cats stuck in trees!

He could have and would have done them a lot quicker than the Sidekicks that were assigned to them.

Izuku bit down his annoyance as he arrived at his gym. He tapped his card at the entry gate and the automatic door unlocked allowing him inside. Kendou Gym and Martial Arts was one of the very best in the Musutafu area— in his experience as well according to the rave reviews online.

It was enormous and had superb facilities, but the trainers were also extremely patient. He could only afford to here because of the interview money. His first day had been terribly awkward. Izuku still felt embarrassed at having to be taught how to use a ton of machines by a girl around his age.

He had all but burnt the memory out of his mind except for how to use the machines. The girl's incredulity at him not knowing how to use even some of the more basic machines still stayed with all these months later.

The gym was on the bottom floor and the dojo was on the floor above. Izuku had seen the girl walk about in a gi from afar so he figured she had to be one of the dojo's students.

Another good reason to not sign up for the dojo.

Izuku shook the vestiges of embarrassment away as he loaded up a machine. The familiar burn and strain were like an old friend. Izuku finished his repetitions before heading for the indoor running track.

Decathlon competitors (or decathletes) had a holistic approach to exercise. They could not be too bulky or they would not be able to jump as high. They could not be too skinny or they would be too weak for the strength-based events and so and so forth.

Izuku tried to mirror this as best he could do. There was some stuff he could not do even in this gym, but the trainers had been more than helpful in finding suitable alternatives.

The track was occupied by others as well. So, Izuku took a lane of his own as he went through sprinting drills. By the time Izuku finished those along with a few agility and flexibility focused exercises, it was already late evening.

Finally.

Izuku felt pretty tired, but he had long since adapted to working through fatigue. Izuku took a quick shower before changing into the spare clothes he had brought along.

His mask was at the very top, but for now, he wouldn't really need it. He was just looking for a new training spot after all. He knew of at least three abandoned properties around Musutafu thanks to the internet, but he hadn't checked them out before.

It was only about half-past seven so the streets were packed. It was also a Friday night so restaurants, shops, malls, bars and stadiums were jam-packed.

This worked to his favour and no one really bothered Izuku as he made his way to his first destination. It was an abandoned apartment building and Izuku did not quite remember the reason for it standing empty.

Something to do with noise complaints and air pollution from the factories.

He left the noises and lights of the leisure section of the city moving to a residential/industrial sector. There was far less activity here and so Izuku paid more attention to his surroundings. In the distance, he could hear the faint sound of music

It was unlikely that he was being followed, but a little caution could go a long way. After a few minutes of walking past empty buildings and factories, he realised that he was just being paranoid.

The music he had heard was only getting louder, but he ignored it for the time being. It was a Friday after all Izuku checked the street names as he went along marking them off before he finally arrived at his destination.

So this was where the music was coming from. Great.

"Danzou is that you? You're kinda early, man," a drunk man said holding a bottle in his hand his voice just a little slurred, "Are your drinks in the bag? That's smart! I'd never think an All White bag would have booze in it! You know I once met him? Mall Sight. He's huge like at least this big and—"

Izuku chose not to correct the man's mistake.

The gates that surrounded the apartment were wide open and at least a hundred people were mingling in the parking lot. Music blared from large speakers that someone had set up and there had to have been at least forty cars. There were even a few fires that had been started in barrels.

"Is there a party like this every night?" Izuku asked the drunk man who had and rambling on the entire time.

Of course, he had to find a mumbling drunk. The mumbling was very irritating.

Izuku did not sense the irony in that thought at all. None whatsoever.

"Of course there is! Musutafu never sleeps!" the man slurred, "Come on, Hanzou! You are always here! Don't tell me you're on that stuff again? You better share!"

"I'm not—" Izuku began but stopped.

He had to leave. Apparently, this was a popular partying spot which was the exact opposite of what Izuku needed. He turned the drunk guy back towards the party and he ignored the lingering smell of alcohol and other such stuff.

Outdoor parties were gross.

So, the apartment building was a bust. It wasn't all bad. The general area around it was still too populated and if it was used as a hangout at night then chances were it was also frequented during the day.

After all, there was no trash like at Takoba, to repel people away. That meant Izuku needed to find somewhere that wouldn't lend itself to daily parties.

Thankfully, he knew just the place.

"This is getting ridiculous."

The second property Izuku had scoped out had also turned out to be a bust. It sucked because it would have been perfect. It was a large secluded factory with high brick walls for added privacy.

There was leftover equipment that would have been perfect for testing jutsu on as well as vast amounts of space. Izuku had been ready to scale the wall when he saw the sign on display.

It was the badge of Kamui Woods' hero agency. If whoever owned the lot could afford to have Kamui Woods on a private retainer then it definitely wasn't a good idea for Izuku to entertain the idea of training there.

Especially with how testy Kamui Woods had been in the media as of late.

So as the clock struck 9, Izuku walked through the night to his final destination. It was a mall that was owned by a near-defunct real estate group. The mall and the blocks around it were also owned by that group.

Apparently, the last surviving scraps of the real estate group were holding onto these buildings like a lifeline. They were all currently boarded up and empty so Izuku could only assume they were holding out for a buyer.

Izuku was sure a buyer would come soon because the mall was within a stone's throw of UA. The prices for rent near UA were staggering, but it was well worth it because it was one of the safest places in all of Japan let alone Musutafu.

When Izuku came to the mall itself, he was admittedly impressed. It spread out far and wide across multiple blocks. All the doors and entryway were boarded up leaving no way in for the average person.

Izuku was not average.

He walked up the wall using his Surface Sticking. A few months ago, it had been murder on his core to walk up this way. The first time he had tried it, his upper half had fallen back to the ground. He had almost busted his head open on the ground.

Now though, thanks to his exercise, he was strong enough to walk up a wall as if it were the ground. He had to walk the way to the top floor because none of the windows could be opened from the outside.

When he made it, the frustration from the 's adventures

The top floor was a rooftop garden. The garden spanned the entirety of the mall's roof and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a park instead of a garden.

There were plenty of tables, chair, potplants and so on, but more importantly, there was open space. It would give him enough space to start practising using those rods he had made.

Well, that would only happen if he ever figured out how to make those rods again. As things were, Izuku was stumped. They had appeared in a crisis moment and he wasn't crazy enough to take a chance on it happening again.

He had rewatched the video of the fight multiple times over and he just did not get it. At the moment, it had felt like his body had acted on its own and surpassed his normal limitations.

It was like those stories of women being able to lift fallen cupboards or cars off of their children. What people were not told was that often these women damaged their bodies extensively in pulling off these feats.

The body had self-imposed limitations on how much effort one could exert. It was through intense exercise that someone broke through those limitations and pushed the bar further.

So, it was possible that Izuku's chakra acted similarly. Perhaps, for whatever reason, he could not recreate those rods. It could be a power issue, lack of control or anything else really.

Izuku was certain that he'd crack the code eventually. For now, though, he had done enough scouting. He would come back tomorrow so he could start working on the Enhancement technique.

As it was, Izuku had zero firepower. The rods would have been useful, but until he figured that out he had to find an alternative. He kicked a chair leg that had rolled near him out of frustration.

"Maybe I could use this," Izuku said not entirely joking.

It was getting pretty late and having a weapon, even if it was a chair leg, would be better than absolutely nothing. The sound of dogs barking in the distance made his mind up for him.

He picked up the chair leg and it was surprisingly sturdy. It would probably suck to be on the wrong side of it. Izuku picked up his bag and improvised weapon before going back over the edge.

He undercooked his chakra just enough to allow him to slide down to the ground. The streets were dark with the only light coming from intermittent street lamps.

To keep his mind busy, Izuku toyed with chair leg he'd taken along with him. He imagined himself beating away imaginary foes at every turn. If someone had seen him, he'd have looked crazy, but as it was he was all alone.

After about fifteen minutes, Izuku had made it back to proper civilisation. The night was still going strong for a lot of people. It was nothing new. Friday nights were often the liveliest of times along with Saturdays.

At this time of the night, there was no more public transport so Izuku had to walk bag on the busy main roads. The problem was there were even more people out now than there had been earlier in the evening.

His mother had sent him a few messages already which made him begin to get annoyed at the crowded walkways. There was a shortcut that went past the Kendou gym that would allow him to get home a few minutes quicker.

Izuku was certain that the gym and the other businesses on that route were probably closed. Normally, that would be a touch unsettling however with his mother bombarding his phone with messages, it was a godsend.

Izuku peeled off into the alleyways going further away from the hubbub of the crowds. He had abandoned his weapon when he had reached the main walkways and now he felt a bit foolish about the whole thing.

He was about to turn the corner into the street of the gym when he heard raised voices. The sound of shuffling drew his attention and Izuku slowed to a halt before peaking around the corner.

He nearly groaned when he saw a girl with orange hair surrounded by two men and one woman. The girl stood at the main entrance to the gym and there was a parked car nearby with its headlights off. There was a fourth person, a woman, sitting behind the steering wheel.

"We won't ask again, girlie," said the woman and the apparent leader, "We know you lock the gym up on Fridays and we know you guys keep some valuable stuff in there. We know all about your alarm system too. Just unlock the door and things won't have to get...messy."

Izuku heard enough.

He reached into his bag and he prepared a quick plan as his fingers closed on the cool ceramic of his mask. He would not have time to waste. He could not make the same mistakes as he had at Takoba.

His eyes scanned the alleyway for stuff he could use and a rough plan formed in his mind.

Time to be a hero.

Itsuka did not have the time to deal with this.

She'd gotten her confirmation from UA that very day and she had been so pumped she had trained extra hard. She could afford it. Tomorrow was the weekend and that meant she could train for even longer.

And yet, here she was getting robbed in front of her parent's gym.

Like hell.

Itsuka enlarged her fists as she dropped into a stance. One of the men took a small step to the front of the pack and the driver began to climb out of the car. Okay, four on one was not that bad.

"The camera's rolling. Let's do this thing already," Itsuka said as she began hopping from foot to foot, "I think I left my stove on so we need to speed things up."

She couldn't even cook. Not really. A little taunting never hurt anyone.

That was what her fists were for.

Despite the taunt, however, none of them moved an inch. Itsuka was nervous until the man at the front took another step forward.

"Look over here, Carrot Top."

Itsuka met his gaze on reflex and she felt her muscles lock as she stared into his eyes. They were a bright pink and she felt embarrassed at falling for his Quirk so easily.

"Thanks for that, Nirami," the leader said and as she walked forward her nails began to lengthen until they were ten-inch long spikes.

"We're gonna need you in the car, Kaihi," said the woman before turning to Itsuka, "You better pray to your gods. This is gonna get ugly if you don't unlock this store right now."

"Give me my bat, Kaihi," said the man closest to the car, "This girl looks tough. She may need some preparation."

"Anything else, masters?" Kaihi said before handing the bat to her partner, "I'm not your servant, Heikin. Keep your bat on you at all times."

Itsuka felt her worry grow as she saw Kaihi and Heikin chat back and forth. If they were so casual whilst in active crime scene then this definitely wasn't their first time stepping between the ropes.

The only saving grace was that the camera coupled with the street lights would capture their faces clearly. The lights were above them and it allowed her to see their facial expressions despite the time of the day.

It was also thanks to the light that she was able to see a large shadow form on the ground. The others noticed it too and Heikin was the one to spot where it came from.

"Up there on the roof! What the hell is he holding?"

Before any of the criminals could move, a large trash can sailed through the air and slammed on the windshield of the car. The result was a loud crunch as it shattered into pieces. The alarm of the car blared through the night air.

Someone would definitely have heard both the crash and the alarm.

The airbags in the car activated and Itsuka almost felt bad for Kaihi. The woman was not strapped in and so the airbag slammed into with full force putting her out of commission.

The lid of the trash can fell in-between Itsuka and the man keeping her paralysed. She was freed from her invisible bonds and she sidestepped the leader before delivering a thumping blow to the man's chest.

He flew through the air before slamming into the side of the car. Itsuka was vaguely aware of her saviour jumping off the roof, but she ignored that as she quickly disarmed the man and laid him out in short order.

She put a bit extra in the uppercut and the man fell like a bag of potatoes. Luckily for him, her Quirk had been deactivated so he'd just have a sore jaw for a few days.

"Who the hell are you?!"

She turned back to see the leader squaring off with Itsuka's apparent saviour. The hooded figure was roughly six feet tall and he nimbly dodged all the attacks.

The leader leapt forward with a slash of her claws, but the hooded figure was replaced by the trash can from before. The woman's claws bit into the crumpled trash can spilling trash into the street.

"Give me the bat!" shouted the hooded man and Itsuka froze as she saw the gleaming white mask with blue decal.

Before she could, though, the man jumped off the car and wrapped himself around a lamp post with just his leg. The leader had gone for broke in her failed attack and she had cut into the bonnet of the criminals' car with her claws. The criminal had been overeager and could not escape immediately.

"Now!" the urgency in the man's disembodied voice sparked Itsuka into action.

Itsuka ran to the bat before she threw it to the man. It was a rather wild throw but somehow he snatched it out the air with just a finger while still wrapped around the pole.

He slid down the pole by his leg with a casual grace. He reached the ground and rose with both hands holding onto the bat.

Cool.

The man used the bat with no technique whatsoever, but he didn't need to have technique. The leader seemed exhausted from chasing the man around and her claws had decreased in length by more than half.

She was tired.

The man sprung into action as he used the bat to slap aside a sluggish slash. He went down to his knees before using the bat to take out the woman's legs. The woman hit the ground hard and she tried to rise a foot on her chest stopped that.

The man pointed the bat the woman's face. A silent warning of what would happen if she did anything. The man turned to Itsuka his mask bathed in the light of the street lamp.

"Are you okay?"

Was she okay?

"Are you okay? Your knees should be shot. You just jumped off a building!"

"That doesn't apply to me."

Mysterious.

"What's your name, young girl?" the man said as he pointed the bat at her.

Young girl? How old was this guy? He sounded like her grandpa, but he couldn't be that old judging by his build.

"Itsuka Kendo," she gave up freely, "What's your name? I mean your hero name."

"You can call me Kage."

It was a bit simple, but it definitely suited his aesthetic.

"Have you called for backup from other heroes? What agency has the mighty Kage working for them?" Itsuka asked and she frowned when she saw the man's body language warp from very confident to unsure.

"F-Funny story about that," the man's disembodied voice was still able to convey the awkwardness and embarrassment in his tone.

Itsuka had a feeling that it wasn't really all that funny. She was not nervous per se. The man had just saved her after all. However, he seemed rattled by her mentioning other heroes.

Naturally, she was suspicious.

"Oh really—"

"Lacquered Chain Prison!"

A spray of wooden tentacles suddenly flew at both Itsuka and Kage. Itsuka was caught, but Kage managed to escape by somehow swapping places with Heikin. She struggled against her bonds as Kamui Woods appeared on his from the shadows.

What the hell was this? It was so tight she couldn't even activate her Quirk.

"Let her go," Kage said to Kamui as he gestured to the criminal scattered on the ground, "She's just a kid. These guys are your criminals."

The tentacles wrapped around Itsuka loosened immediately at those words. There were still deep and red marks on her skin and she rubbed at them as Kage spoke again.

"You usually work alone on your night patrols so you have no backup. If you're on your own then that means you have just two options," Kage said looking at Kamui.

"You could either chase after me and arrest me or you could arrest the four criminals who attacked an innocent girl outside her family's business. The choice is yours."

Itsuka watched as Kage ran off without waiting for a reply. A vigilante, huh? She wondered if all vigilantes were as cool as Kage...

"I'm a huge fan by the way!"

...and as dorky too

"This happened at your gym! I'm glad you left before getting mixed up in all of this."

He should have expected this. He really should have learnt from the last time and yet here he was having an internal breakdown in front of the TV. All of the news channels were speaking about the incident outside the Kendou gym.

Starlight News, the one he was watching now, had been constantly replaying footage of the fight since well before sunrise. The video was taken from a security cam and it always started right around the time Itsuka's hands got bigger.

It was an interesting Quirk. It seemed like a localised gigantification and it probably gave her one hell of a power boost. The punches she delivered looked devastating.

Then, for at least the seventh time that weekend, Izuku watched as he intervened and helped Itsuka. Around the time of his third rewatch, he had noticed how Itsuka seemed to have a fluid and learned fighting style.

Itsuka's skill only became more obvious the more he focused on her. She was strong enough to take care of herself even without having to use her Quirk. Did she learn all this from the dojo?

He recognised her as the girl who had shown him the ropes on his first day at the gym. The penny had only dropped for him after she told him her name. Images of her wearing a training gi and walking around the gym had formed in his mind.

All in all, Itsuka's skill was a great endorsement for the dojo. Most heroes had Support Items to help their fighting style. The powerhouses like All Might and Endeavor didn't really need any items, but Izuku had many notes about some of the more impressive items.

Itsuka on the other hand seemed to be rather advanced for her age. She did not need a Support Item or even her Quirk to be effective. She already knew martial arts and was confident enough in her own strength to take on four people at once.

He was pulled away from his thoughts as it got to the part of the video where Kamui got the drop on them. It had been rather fortunate that he had been able to avoid the wooden snares. Itsuka had been caught which was unfortunate, but he knew she'd be fine.

She wasn't the one breaking the law, after all. That bad been all him.

Izuku had used Substitution on one of the criminals and to his delight it had actually worked. Being able to use Substitution on other people could make for some great combos.

The thing was Izuku still had just about zero firepower.

He was untrained in hand to hand combat. Despite how easy it had looked on the video, avoiding the criminal's attacks had been very difficult. He was only able to go on the offensive when he had gotten the bat from Itsuka.

Furthermore, his ranged attacks currently consisted of throwing a full trashcan.

It looked cool in the video, but carrying that bin up the wall had been decided uncool.

The solution was clear as day. He had to start learning elemental chakra control.

The Scroll had a lot of techniques for all five elements. It was a treasure trove of information. The scroll was obviously meant to be used by an entire clan and so Izuku knew that Hiruzen added so much stuff to cover as many bases as possible.

Izuku originally planned to only work on the Enhancement Technique which would hopefully lead to a quick segue into the Body Flicker. From there, he had planned to begin his elemental training.

However, he was once again keenly aware of his limitations. Itsuka could probably have handled at least three of those criminals from last night on her own.

Izuku had so much potential at his fingertips and he wasn't tapping into it because he was scared. His 'Quirk' was wildly different from any other that was on the record. If what his full capabilities spread around then Izuku could kiss his current life goodbye.

Much like the participants at the UA Sports festivals, once you stepped into the limelight, you were there to stay. Kamui, for example, had trapped everyone at the start of his obstacle race in his first year.

It was unsurprising that he had gotten a grant to start his agency right out the gate.

Izuku just had to be prepared to deal with the ramifications of his power. As a future hero, it was his duty to give it his all in everything he did. He couldn't choose to not learn something because he was scared of the blowback.

There would be no room for fear if he wanted to pass the UA exam and there was certainly no room for fear if he wanted to be the next Number One.

It was with that mantra in mind that Izuku realised his training schedule was about to get busier. The Entrance Exams were in six months. He had six months to make himself worthy of a spot in UA.

There would be people like Kacchan and Itsuka all fighting for spots. He had no choice, but to catch up to them or he'd be left behind for good now.

"Breaking news here at Starlight News," said the news anchor a man who a fox head, "Our head reporter is outside Kendou Gym and Martial Arts. The site of an attempted robbery that was thwarted by the owner's daughter and The Takoba Beach Vigilante. What have you got for us, "

"What could they have now?" his mother said as the news cut to the outside of the gym, "This channel is a bit too chaotic for me, but they do have the most scoops."

Izuku hummed his agreement as the Starlight reporter began to speak. Izuku recognised him as the reporter who had interrogated Kamui Woods after Izuku's debut as Kage.

What was his name again?

"Hello, Japan. My name is Masukomi Sousa," said the man with practised ease, "We are outside the site of yet another incident involving the Takoba Beach Vigilante. As you would have seen, the man calling himself Kage rescued a young girl from four criminals with a long list of crimes to their name."

"The girl is inside, but more importantly we have personally confirmed that Kamui Woods is here too," Masukomi said before his tone became derisory, "The rising hero has been under fire for his failure to respond to the Takoba Beach Incident. Last night we had another incident that the Pros failed to find out about."

"I understand that our Pros cannot be everywhere and they do not know everything," Masukomi said a burst of passion in his voice, "That does not excuse what happened last night. Kage the Vigilante rescued young Itsuka Kendouand what was his reward? He got blindsided by a supposedly honourable hero."

"To make matters worse, Kamui caught Itsuka in the crossfire of his sneak attack," Izuku felt a general sense of unease at how the incident was being framed, "So not only did a brave civilian have to save Itsuka, but one of the people paid to protect this nation's citizens almost hurt an innocent girl."

"Kamui's agency is funded by government money. Money that comes from the people. With that in mind, there ought to be certain expectations," Masukomi said to the camera, "When an unlicensed and unpaid hero is doing more to help than those on the payroll of the people then difficult questions need to be asked."

Masukomi was about to say more, but he switched gears as Kamui walked out of the gym. From what Izuku could see, the gym was open for business and that lifted his mood. He had been worried that it would stay closed for a few more days.

"Kamui, I'm here for Starlight News!" Masukomi said as he ran over to the Pro, "Last night, you failed to respond in time to save Itsuka and you also failed to capture the Takoba Beach Vigilante also known as Kage. Furthermore, there is footage showing you capturing young Itsuka after Kage had already subdued the villains."

Kamui seemed annoyed by Masukomi's words and Izuku understood how that must have felt.

"Your projected approval ratings have also understandably taken a large hit," Masukomi said with a false neutralisation, "How do you intend to regain the public's trust after two back-to-back failures like this?"

Kamui closed his eyes and was silent before opening them again. His stance was rigid and firm. His muscles coiled as if he were about to spring into action.

I misread the situation last night," Kamui said his tone just a touch strained, "In my haste to respond to the incident, I had mistaken Itsuka for one of the perpetrators due to the vigilante brandishing a weapon towards her. I came here to give my apologies to Itsuka's family."

Izuku felt a bout of guilt as he realised that an innocuous gesture by him resulted in a vexing situation for Kamui. It wasn't uncommon for reporters to grill heroes, but perhaps due to his own involvement, this felt very different.

"As for regaining the public's trust, I can do that," Kamui said looking away from Masukomi as he turned to the camera, "I pledge to put away the lawless vigilante known as Kage. It sets an awful precedent if we continue to allow him to do as he pleases. I hope I can restore your faith in me in due time."

"I think that's quite enough," his mother said as she reached for the remote, "I don't how Kamui stayed so calm despite that man badgering him.

Izuku's mother changed the channel to a soap opera. His mother enjoyed the show and he did too at times, but Izuku hadn't watched much of it recently. He had been too busy training for those simple pleasures.

Speaking of which.

"I'm going to the gym," Izuku said to his mom who seemed a bit hesitant to let him go.

"You came back home so late and now you're leaving early too," his mother said with some worry in her voice, "Are you taking care of yourself, Izuku? I've gotten calls from your teachers. You've been falling asleep in class. I don't want you to exhaust yourself."

"You know why I'm doing this mom," Izuku said rising from the couch, "My grades are still just as good as before. I am tired, but I can't stop now. Not when I'm this close."

"I know, sweetie," his mother said sounding just a touch calmer, "You're a smart kid. I know you wouldn't do anything stupid and put yourself in direct danger."

The last sentence formed a ball of guilt in Izuku's gut.

"That's right, mom," Izuku said warmly giving no indication of how he felt on the inside.

"There's no need to worry."

"Okay," Izuku said to himself as he looked at the rooftop garden that spread far and wide in front of him, "You've read the theory. This should be fine."

Izuku held a stopwatch in his hand that he quickly set to zero. Once that was done, he looked at his bag fifty metres away. That was his target. He counted down from three before starting the watch and taking off in a sprint.

Izuku sprinted full tilt at the bag. His arms and legs working at full capacity to propel him forward. He stopped the watch as soon as he crossed the line. Izuku took a few moments to slow his breathing before looking at the time on the watch.

5,88 seconds. Give or take since he was timing himself. That wasn't too bad, but he just wanted to give himself a baseline figure. Izuku couldn't use his watch for the next one so he took his phone out his bag and switched to voice control.

He put it in his pocket where he knew it would be safe before forming a handseal with his hands. The Tiger handseal was typically used for both control and power. It almost always appeared in fire jutsu for that reason. Fire without power would not hurt the opponent and fire without control would hurt the user.

Izuku channelled his chakra across his body. Slowly, it spread to his muscles, bones and joints. He kept it tightly contained and he had to start over multiple times as his control slipped. After roughly two minutes, it felt as though his body had gained the strength of a hundred men.

"Stopwatch, begin!"

Izuku took off in a sprint and he was shocked at how fast he was moving. Unused to it all, Izuku slipped forward and fell to the floor. He rolled and rolled as the built-up chakra dissipated in an instant.

He finally slowed to a stop on his side. He laid on the ground basking in his failure before getting back up. The good news was that all he had was a few aches, no broken bones or torn muscles. The bad news was that he had lost his footing after three steps.

This jutsu was supposed to be usable over long distances.

"I'll get there," Izuku said and he took out his miraculously undamaged phone.

He had about eight hours of training time left. He'd devote three more hours to the Body Flicker and then he'd spend an hour on the starting exercises for each element.

The best way to find out his affinity would be via elimination. Logically, if he trained them all he would be able to find the one he was most inclined to. He could then hyperfocus on that and then choosing another element to train.

Simple.

Eight Hours Later — Abandoned Mall Rooftop

Izuku hurt.

His feet hurt. His hands hurt. His arms and legs hurt. His head hurt and his pride hurt. His body and mind was pretty much a conglomeration of pain. He wished he could say the day was productive, but he was in too much pain to lie to himself.

There was a lot that he had to fix.

He still took far too long to saturate his body with chakra and even then he couldn't hold it all the time. The most steps he had been able to take before falling to his doom was an impressive six. Finally, he was pretty sure he had grass stuck in his hair despite spending five minutes to get rid of it all.

So, that was the Body Flicker.

The elemental control exercises were awful in their own special way. Izuku knew it would have been hard. Hiruzen had said as much too. However, Izuku had at least expected to find out what affinity he had.

That did not happen.

He only needed the one leaf for five hours. No matter what, the stupid leaf would not moisten, burn, wrinkle, turn to dust or split. There was a moment where he had thought he had gotten the leaf wet, but it had just been sweat.

So, that was how Izuku's day had gone. His demeanour must have been rather off-putting as he was given a rather wide berth as he walked through the streets of Musutafu.

It was either that or he smelled really bad. It was probably both if he was being honest.

Thankfully, his destination was not too far away and a few minutes later he arrived at Kendou Gym. It was very busy. It was 6 PM on a Saturday so seeing people at the gym was to be expected.

Unfortunately, the people here did not seem to be here for the gym. It was a similar scene to the one at Takoba Beach. People draping themselves on the lamp post that he had slid down. People posing with bats in mid-swing obviously mimicking him.

There was even someone with a plastic mask that had the decal from just last night on it. It seemed pretty damn good all things considered. How the hell did it get done so quickly.

"We should just leave, Bakugou," Izuku almost groaned as he heard the voice of one of his classmates, "They're not letting anyone without a membership card in. I'd sign up, but my parents would kill me Those things are impossible to get out of."

Sure enough, just as Izuku reached the entrance, Kacchan and a few of his tagalongs from school were outside the gym. They hadn't noticed him and as Izuku took his access card out, he hoped it stayed the same way.

"That girl in there got to speak to that vigilante and she fought alongside him," Izuku heard Kacchan say, "If she knows something about him then I want to know. He's different from all of these losers out here taking photos!"

A few people jeered Kacchan which obviously only made him angry.

"Shut up, you extras!"

Unsurprisingly, people went back to minding their own business.

"As I was saying," Kacchan said as if he hadn't just insulted an entire crowd of people, "If I work with this Kage guy or maybe even take him down, everyone will know my name. So, call your mom up and ask for her banking—"

"Is that Midoriya?"

Izuku froze with his card just inches away from the scanner. He turned to the side and met the surprised faces of his classmates and the completely befuddled face of Kacchan.

"Deku?" Kacchan said looking him up and down in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"O-Oh hey, Kacchan," Izuku said and he floundered for a bit, "What are you doing here?"

"I asked you that first, Deku!"

"Oh, right! Well, uh—"

Instead of answering, Izuku scanned his card before going inside the gym. He slammed the door in Kacchan's face and so he had a prime view as Kacchan pressed his face against the door.

"I'll figure this out, Deku!"

The declaration was loud even through the glass doors. It attracted quite a few stares towards Kacchan and their classmates. Thankfully, Akuma pulled Kacchan away as they left. Kacchan kept his glare pinned on Izuku until he was dragged out of sight.

That was the perfect icing on the crap cake that was today.

Izuku nodded towards some of the regulars that he sometimes spotted, but he didn't go and put his stuff in his locker like he usually did.

Instead, he went up to the top floor. He'd never been up there before and he was amazed at what he saw. Punching bags, boxing rings, medals, trophies and there was even a sumo ring.

There were quite a few classes going on as well as people walking around or observing. That made it rather difficult to find who he was looking for.

*THUMP*

"Take that! Next lady for a shave! Come on! Who's next?!"

Until it suddenly became easy.

Izuku saw Itsuka standing in the middle of a boxing ring. She stood over a man twice her age and probably thrice her weight. The man laid on the floor and was trying to crawl away from the orange-haired monster.

Izuku walked over to the ring and thankfully there appeared to be no one up for a shave. Izuku stopped by the ring, but unfortunately, Itsuka seemed to take that as a challenge.

"You wanna go, short stuff? Let's go!"

"W-What? I just wanted to sign up for some lessons."

"Oh," her demeanour shifted almost immediately, "Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit antsy today...wait a second...I know you!"

She vaulted over the ropes before coming to a stop just inches away from him. Her skin was flushed from the boxing match, she'd just hand and her boxing gloves were still. Her eyes stared deeply into his own.

Wait. She had called him short stuff. They were the exact same height.

That wasn't important. Did she somehow recognise him from last night? His Transformation had been up the entire—

"You're the guy who tried to use your arms on the leg press machine!" Itsuka said stifling a laugh behind her glove, "Oh man. That was great! I mean you could have died, but good thing you didn't. You said you wanted to sign up for lessons, right? What do you wanna do? Karate? Judo? Boxing?"

The gleam in her eye on the third one scared him off from even trying boxing.

Izuku just stared at Itsuka as he gradually grew more and more uncomfortable. Being this close to someone that was admittedly very pretty short-circuited his brain a bit.

He took a few steps back to regain his composure, "Uh, I was actually thinking about doing something with a weapon."

"A weapon?" she sounded surprised as she unstrapped her boxing gloves, "You strike me more as a fists kind of guy. What sort of weapon? No, wait, I've got a better plan."

She dropped her gloves to the floor where they landed with a loud thud. She must have sensed his surprise as she picked one up and pointed towards slits around the wrist and the top.

"They're weighted gloves," she pulled out a metal bar from around the wrist, "My dad said I need a handicap to make this more challenging for me. Anyways, follow me."

She took off in a random direction and Izuku sped up to catch up with her.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

They walked in silence until they reached a door neat the back end of the floor. He followed her inside and he was amazed at what lay inside. A bevy of weapons ran from the floor to the ceiling.

Staffs, nunchucks and even this weird length of fabric that was vaguely familiar. It was a bit overwhelming to see so many different types of weapons all at once.

"I forgot to ask," Itsuka said almost oblivious of his awe, "What's your name?"

"Izuku Midoriya," he replied and he held out his hand to her, "Nice to meet you. Well, meet you again actually. Or is it officially?"

"Relax, Midoriya," she said grasping his hand with a lot more force than was necessary, "I'm Itsuka Kendou, but you can call me Kendou."

"Right," Izuku said and thankfully his voice did not waver despite Itsuka trying to crush his hand. She finally let go and she nodded approvingly.

"Not bad, pick out a weapon."

They were the same age.

Izuku went from weapon to weapon weighing up the pros and cons of them all. The main reason he settled on learning a weapon-based style was fairly obvious. An average armed person held an advantage over someone unarmed of the same skill level.

In theory, this should give him an edge against his opponents.

"Why are you learning a style?" Kendou asked from somewhere behind him, "I see you working out downstairs all the time. Most of the trainers think you're crazy with how hard you work. There was some talk about an Olympian training program."

"Is there a reason you're working so hard? Something tells me you aren't doing all of this just to get in shape."

"I want to be a hero," Izuku said as he stopped his inspection of the weapons, "The best hero that the world's ever seen— even better than All Might. Protecting those in need and inspiring people for a better tomorrow."

The room was quiet and Izuku took a few breaths before adding, "To do all that, I need to play catch up. I wasn't as serious about this until recently so I need to work extra hard if I want to get into UA."

Izuku eyed the weapons a little to the left and he smiled as he looked at them. Those were perfect. He took them off the rack and turned to Kendou who was surprisingly quiet.

"That's quite the motivation you've got there," her tone was a lot more subdued probably because the adrenaline from her boxing match was gone now.

"Are those what you're going to use?" Kendou said before he could reply, "Any particular reason why?"

Izuku looked at the two escrima sticks in his hands. They were almost the exact same length as the metal rods he had conjured at Takoba Beach give or take an inch.

"I think the future version of myself will be very happy if I learn how to use these."

That sounded a lot cooler in his head.

"Okay," Kendou said dragging out the word, "Anyways, let's get you fitted for a gi and we can start today free of charge."

"You know how to use these?" Izuku said before his mind caught up to the rest of what Kendou had said, "Wait? For free? Are you serious? Why?"

"You seem like a nice guy," Kendou said and he felt his cheeks warm up at the quick answer, "Plus, it wouldn't be very nice of me to charge a future classmate at UA."

Wait—

"You're applying to UA too?" Izuku's exclamation was a bit shrill causing him to flinch.

"Yep," Kendou said cracking her knuckles, "I'll make sure we're both up to scratch by the Entrance Exam! Aren't I great?"

Izuku should have been ecstatic. Well, he was, but that wasn't the only thing he felt. The eagerness Kendou was displaying at the prospect of training him was as infectious as it was off-putting.

He recalled her standing over a mountain of a man just a few minutes ago. With that image came a cold realisation.

He was the next lady for a shave.

Author Notes:

And that's number four.

Kendou strikes me as being uber-competitive when it comes to sports for the most part. As you know now, Izuku's first teacher in this is not All Might. I have plans for that, but that's for later.

I know there are a few people who want Izuku to have a Rinne-Sharingan and a giant green Susanoo with rabbit ears and all that. Instead, he's struggling with the Body Flicker. Pacing is key, guys. Plus, the struggle to reach the top is one of the core themes of both My Hero Academia and Naruto so it at least fits the bill lol.

I just want to thank all of you who have commented, subscribed and bookmarked this story. The response to this story has been great. It's really great that so many people are interested in the story. It makes writing all these chapters a lot easier knowing so many people enjoy them.

You know by now, that I love hearing from you guys so don't be afraid to speak up. You can also PM me on FFN if you have a question you want to ask privately.

Until the next one.